Build
by Marie Aithne
Summary: Dr. Abaigael Gray DVM worked in a large clinic in the Capital. She was doing well until she got a letter from her twin sister Allison saying their father had died and she needed to come back home to the farm, but after 12 years as a city girl, she comes back a different person than she left. Twin sisters must over come their anger for each other or their home may die for good.
1. Harmonica Town

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except Khloe, Jason, Jared, the plot of the story, and children seen in future chapters.**

Chapter 1 Harmonica town

Abaigael walked out of the clinic and toward her apartment 3 blocks away with her messenger bag containing that nights work and her laptop. She sighed. She couldn't stop thinking about Champ, an English bulldog she had to put down that day. He was ten years old with cancer. The family had decided to bring him to the clinic and have him put down. He had been one of her first patients.

On her way up the stairs to her apartment she grabbed the mail and saw the first letter in 3 years from her sister. She opened the door to her apartment on the second floor, set her things down, and sat on the couch to her sisters scratchy handwriting.

_Abbi,_

_ Father has passed on. He died of a heart attack on Wednesday Spring 9__th__. I hope this letter finds you quickly so you might come home for his funeral. The will reading will follow. Not that there is much to give away. The farm has failed in the last year of father's illness and it will need to be restarted from scratch. All the animals have been sold, the house is in disrepair and downsized, the barn and coop are in the same condition. We could not afford to keep everything running and I did not have the time to take care of father and the farm. Please come home, we need you._

_Your twin,_

_Allison Gray._

Abbi sat on the couch, dropping the letter on her coffee table, astonished. Her father, Jackson Edward Gray, had died of a heart attack four days ago. Silent tears started to spill. No one was there to comfort her as she cried alone at what had become of her family farm and her father. She didn't get to say goodbye.

Abbi woke up after crying herself to sleep. She was numb. She called into the vet hospital and reported a family emergency, her father's death, as well as her resignation from the clinic due to the family emergency.

She wrote a quick letter to her sister.

_Allison,_

_I will be there as soon as I can. I am sorry for the state of the farm and that you had to take care of father by yourself. I am resigning from the hospital and moving to Harmonica town to help you restore the farm._

_Dr. Abaigael Gray VMD._

Abbi sealed the envelope and put it downstairs to be sent. She locked up and left for Harmonica town to find a place to live and then send her things.

Two days later, she pulled her truck up to the front of what was left of their family farm. She saw her sister walk out, identical to her except for their hair and clothes. "Allison." Abbi said hugging her sister and giving her a sad smile. Allison collapsed in to sobs. The time apart, the death, and the state of the farm had Abbi crying as well. They stood there like that for awhile until the tears had dried up.

Abaigael broke the silence. "I can hardly believe this..." She started. "I know, the farm is a wreck, and dad not being here… He would have told us to quit blubbering and get the fuck to work." Allison smiled at the thought and laughed. "Hell yes he would have." Abbi agreed. Allison started toward Abaigael's truck. "So these are those gas eaters that they have in the big cities." Allison poked it. "Yes, this is a truck, good for hauling horses and other livestock out to the sanctuary the vet clinic runs." Abbi said patting her truck. She would miss it. They didn't use those in anywhere but the cities. "It's big." Allison said stepping back. "It has to be." Abaigael laughed. Allison smiled at her. "I just got your letter this morning. We need to find a place for you to stay, I would say the house, but it doesn't have enough room for more than one person at the moment." Allison said. Abbi turned to get a good look at the house.

They had taken down the second level, probably to conserve on heating costs and such, and the roof that replaced it was crappy. There were boards missing, boards broken, windows broken, and holes in the walls. The coop had a bad roof, a makeshift door made from cardboard, and a few holes as well. Abbi turned to see the Barn and wasn't surprised to find holes, a bad roof, and an old door. The barn had been her hiding place on the farm, as a child, she would climb into the loft and sit amongst the hay and read. She liked being so close to the animals, but the coop and barn were bare now.

"This place needs major fixing." Abaigael sighed. She remembered how to build and repair, she just didn't like to. "I'll stay at the Inn, but I'm going to talk to Hammy Hamilton first and try to find some property." Abbi told her sister, who looked thoughtful then started to giggle, and finally bent over laughing. "I haven't heard anybody call Mayor 'Hammy' in years!"

"You just call him 'Mayor' now? How boring!" Abigail said pretending she was swiping something aside with her hands. "I'll come with you, I want to try and ride in one of these 'trucks'." Allison said. "Alright, pull the handle out and the door to the passenger side will open." Abaigael instructed getting in the driver's seat. "Okay now you see that strap, clip it in this little buckle so that the straps cross over your chest, it holds you in place in case we hit something." Abbu waited for her sister to finish with the buckle, turned on some folk music, and drove down the path from their house to the rode and slowly into town. She hated folk music… She could stand country but preferred rock and pop, though… those may give Alli a heart attack. Her sister was humming along with one of the songs, some things never change. Abbi parked as far over as she could and away from entrances.

"This is still town hall right?" Abaigael asked walking up to the first building you see when getting into their downtown. "Yeper" Allison chirped, unbuckling and getting out. "That thing is cool! I want one!" Allison said coming around to stand by her sister. "They only allow them in and around the big cities, I have to sell it once I am done moving all my furniture." Abbi said sadly. "Aww, that plain ole sucks!" Allison exclaimed.

They walked into city hall and Abbi found 'Hammy Hamilton' not so Hammy looking. He had white hair, was plump instead of muscular, and shorter. His face looked rounder and he looked… old. A lot changed in 12 years. "My, my, I think I am seeing double!" Hamilton joked. "Hello Hammy." Abbi and Alli said in unison. She gave him a brief hug. "I am so sorry about your father Abaigael, it has been a devastation to the whole town." He said squeezing her bicep. "Thank you Hammy." She said respectfully. "Are you coming back for just your father's funeral then?" He asked with a sad smile. "Actually, I am staying. Allison needs me to help revitalize the farm and reconstruct the buildings back to their former glory. Which brings me to the reason I am here, I was wondering if I could buy some property and possibly some space to start my own veterinary hospital." Abbi stated plainly, getting to business right away, not dwelling on feelings. The mayor gave her a frown wondering if her father's death had any effect on her at all.

"We have some vacant property in the downtown area that you can have as an apartment, and we can construct another shop next to the wizards house if you would like." Hamilton stated in a business fashion. "That will work perfectly, can you send the architect to talk with me and we can map out the floor plans, I will call the moving carts, automobile company, and all that so I can get settled here." Abbi said smiling politley. "Yes, the deed to the property is 100,000 Gold, and to build the clinic… well that depends, the architect could give you an estimate?" Hamilton stated.

Abbi signed a check for 100,000G and shook hands with Hamilton. "It will be moving in ready in 3 days." He said. Abaigael nodded and left with Allison. "You just signed over 100,000 G like it was nothing! Are you that rich?" Allison cried out in anger. "No, I only have 300,000 G to my name, I will hopefully gain more than loose it when I sell all my assets in the city, but I'm not filthy rich Allison. I am actually middle class in city terms." Abaigael said leaving her truck and heading toward the Inn. "300,000G to your name plus more… Why didn't you send any home?" Allison said angry and stopping on the sidewalk.

"I did not send any home because in the last letter you had sent me, three years ago, you said you could handle things and there was no reason to send money. I was not informed you had the need for it Allison." Abaigael said, enunciating every word. She noticed then that Allison had gained a twang that was common in the small cities. Abaigael had been in the city so long that she had a very different accent.

Allison turned and angrily walked on and they both entered the Inn. "I can handle myself from here Allison, thank you." Abaigael said, not wishing to deal with her twin at the moment. "I'ma say hi to everybody first." She said walking over to Yolanda, she had specifically used her twang then to point out to her sister she noticed the difference in their speech as well.

Abbi looked at the people. If it was possible, Yolanda had gotten bigger. Maya hadn't changed much except she cut her hair short and grew taller. Jake was grayer, and Collen was as beautiful as ever.

Abaigael walked over to Jake. "Hey Allison, when did your hair get so long and why are you wearing that?" He asked mistaking their identities. "Hello Jake, I'm actually Abaigael, I was wondering if I could get a room for 3 nights, I'm moving back but the town house won't be ready for another 3 days so I need a place to stay, away from Allison." She added the last part in when her sister left the building. "Yeah, no problem, sorry about that….It's 1,000 G every night." He said. "Okay." Abbi answered with a smile handing over 3000G. "Hey I'm sorry about yer dad, he was a good man." Jake teary eyed. She gave him a tight smile.

She grabbed her suitcase from her car and thankfully didn't run into any villagers. She showered; put on PJ's and went to bed. She knew everybody would probably be in bed or at the Bar anyways. She didn't feel like drinking, drinking pushes back problems to the next day, creates new ones, and gives you a hangover. She fell into a dreamless sleep.


	2. First Day Back

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except Khloe, Jason, Jared, the plot of the story, and children seen in future chapters.**

Chapter 2: First day back

Abbi was woken by a rapping on her door. It took her a moment to remember where she was and why. She pulled herself together in seconds, something she learned to do in the city. There was more rapping on the door. "Just a moment!" She called getting out of bed. She threw on her fuzzy white robe and a pair of black satin slippers to cover her camisole and underwear. It had been a very hot night. "Hello?" She said opening the door. "You ain't even awake yet? Jeez what time does life in the city start? It's already 7am!" Alli complained seeing her sister with sleepy eyed and in a robe that looked like it would cost her a year's worth of work and that didn't include her satin black slippers. Her sister really did lead a ritzy life while she had been toiling on the farm. "Give me a half hour so I can ready myself for the day, but before you go, what is today's schedule?" She asked. Alli glared at her "Our schedule? We don't have a set schedule for the day other than work so if you have any work clothes put them on, you may not want to use a pair that costs 60, 000G."

Alli closed the door so Abbi could throw on her old t-shirt and pair of loose jeans. She left her room and headed for the street when she ran into Gill. "Watch it Alli." He said and then did a double take. "How did you get your hair to grow so long over night?" He asked pulling on a bit of it. "Ouch, do you mind? It's nice to see you too Gill, it's been a while." Abbi said so he would hopefully realize which twin she was. "I saw you last night when you left the town hall." He said confused. "I am not Alli, I am Abbi!" Abbi said getting a sense of déjà vous from her childhood. "Abaigael? No… Oh my I forgot about you!" He said and then blushed realizing what he had just said. "As I said, it's nice to see you again Gill. I am moving back to this town, so you better get used to the differences between Alli and I again." Abbi said enunciating town and walking down to the farm.

She popped into the tailor's and greeted Luna, Candace, and their grandmother Shelly. All were confused at first and then seemed to regain their memory of her. She passed by the camera shop and down past the beach and walked up to the old farmhouse. "Alli?" She called in question.

"I'm right here." Her sister said holding some tools. Abbi put her hair in a bun so it was out of her way and took the ax from her sister. It seemed heavier than she remembered but she still cleared the trees and ground of sticks and stacked the wood on the ever growing pile in the supplies shed. Her sister took the hammer and was still working on the rocks when Abbi switched to the sythe, her favorite tool because it was also the weapon she practiced with as a child for martial arts. All the blades were blunted and it took longer to do the work with bad tools but they had their single field cleared by sundown even though they took a lunch break. Abbi didn't think her muscles had ever ached so much. She sat down on the ground when they finished, dripping sweat, her sister didn't look any better. "Well that was fun. I vote we don't try that again for a few days at least." Her sister glared at her and huffed off into her house and slammed the door.

"She's still pissed." Abbi thought to herself. She grabbed the old tools and carried them all up the hill with protesting legs and arms. She walked past the carpenter's house and into the blacksmith passing by some confused people's faces. "Ramsey, could you get these fixed into great condition again?" She asked the old man standing by the counter. "You got yer own materials and the money for that, and money for materials if you ain't got any Alli?" He said a little astonished. "I'm Abaigael, I just moved back and yes I am paying for both the materials and labor." She said calmly. "Alrightie then, that's 50,000 G." He said looking at her to see if her reaction. She pulled out a check book and wrote a check for 50,000 G on it. "There you go, thank you." She said leaving all the tools behind. "I'll giv'em back to yer sister tomorrow morning!" He called to her, she yelled back an affirmation.

She saw a tanned, muscular man walking out of the mines with a hammer and holding the hand of a little red headed girl. His red hair gleamed in the light and they looked like possible father and daughter. "Owen." Abaigael sighed out. Her high school sweet heart was married and had a child already. "Go play Chloe, I have some more work to do." He said to the little girl. She ran into the blacksmith shop calling 'Grandpa.' Owen was training to be a blacksmith, it made sense that his daughter spent a lot of time there, she thought to herself.

"Hey Alli! Whoa, what did you do to your hair, it's all long and lovely, not suitable for a spicy girl like you!" She heard Owen call. She looked to see if Alli was around, of course she wasn't, they thought SHE was Alli.

"Alli, wait up, sorry I didn't mean any offence at the spicy joke, what has you in a bad mood?" he said running to catch up with her. "Hey, don't be mad!" he laughed and stopped her tilting her chin toward him.

_Is Alli intimate with my Ex-boyfriend now? He doesn't even recognize me, and I was his first time... just like he was mine._

Abbi shook him off with tears in her eyes. "Hey don't cry Alli." He said pulling her to him. "I am not Allison you asshole; my name is Abaigael!" She cried ripping herself away from him and running down the path to the old ruins with tears in her eyes. She found her old hiding spot by the ruins to the goddess tree. She sat there with astonished and sad tears. "What did you expect Abbi? Of course they would forget the twin sister after years of not visiting! What, did you want Owen to never move on and be alone forever, no of course not!" She yelled at herself.

"I'm so tired…" Abbi said softly when dusk turned to night. A light rain started pouring down around her. She fell asleep against a tree.

"Alli?" Owen called knocking on her door. "What's up Owen?" Alli asked opening the door. "I wanted to make sure your sister got home okay, I mistook her for you and didn't realize my mistake till she screamed at me and ran off. She looked upset." He said with a frown. "Don't worry about that rich bitch. She's probably at the inn or bar just fine." Alli said with venom. "Woah, what's with the hostility?" Owen inquired raising his hands in a motion of peace. "She has been hoarding money from dad and I while she is living the rich life in the city with her veterinary clinic and not having to do any work!" Alli yelled. "Really, hoarding money?" He asked. "Yes and now she stole my tools!" Alli threw her hands up in exasperation. "Actually she placed an order with Ramsey to have them all restored to their previous glory." Owen answered. He gave her a look while he said "if she didn't care, why is she moving back to help, paying to restore things, starting again here and leaving all she knew for years behind?" Owen left Alli with that thought. She thought for a second. "Could you check the Inn and Bar for Abbi, Owen?" She called into the rain. She heard him shout yes back and she grabbed her rain coat and flash light.

At the bar Owen asked Chase if he had seen 'Allison's look alike but with longer hair.' Chase hadn't forgot about Abaigael, his high school crush. "No, when did she come back?" He asked whipping his hands on his apron. "Yesterday for her Pa's funeral and to help with the farm, but she is missing man." Owen answered. "I'll help look, I think I know where she might have gone!" Chase said. He asked Kathy, the blonde waitress, to take over for him. He shoved a flannel blanket under his rain coat and grabbed a flash light, heading for the place they used to play as children, the goddess tree.


	3. Remembering Chase

Remembering Chase

Abaigael woke up to the light of a growing fire. She was shivering and sweating at the same time. She pulled the blanket closer to her and closed her eyes against her pounding headache. She was dizzy and looked around. Her eyes settled on a familiar face. "water" She croaked to the boy sitting by her side. "Your awake." He pointed out and put the glass of water to her lips. When she downed the whole glass he got up to get more. "How did you find me Chase?" She asked laying her head back against the bed. "The goddess tree was our favorite place to play as children, I go there when I'm upset, why shouldn't you?" He asked giving her more water. "Jin was called, he is heading over this way as we speak. You have a high fever and have been out for awhile." Chase informed her. "Ugh, I feel like shit." She swore uncharacteristically. Chase laughed softly. "You're sick." He shrugged.

"Chase? I am coming in." They both heard. "That'll be Jin." Chase said sitting down by the fire. "Hello Abaigael, long time no see." Jin smiled at his old class mate. "Same, how have you been?" She asked as he approached her. "A lot better than you it seems." He said. "It's a high fever." Abbi told him. "I can see that, but let me check you over none the less." He said. "Why don't you go check Anissa out!?" Abbi laughed. Jin blushed and Chase smirked. "Ah the good days, you and Anissa were so awkward it was adorable, and that one time she kissed You because you were too chicken when we were at the beach! Ha that was priceless." Abbi retreated into her own world of memories while the doc checked her over. "You're going to live." Jin announced after bringing Abbi back to Earth. "Yay…" Abbi said with a sarcastic cheer. Jin smirked down at her.

"No strenuous work for a week, and try not to fall asleep in the cold when it's raining again, okay? I expect better out of my neighboring doctor, even if we don't do the same species." He laughed and left Chase and Abbi by themselves. "Why didn't you come say 'hi' when you got here?" Chase asked his friend quietly. "I was going to today, but after realizing everybody had forgotten me… I thought maybe you had too, and that thought really upset me. I mean Owen forgot who I was, I dated him all through high school!" Abbi started to rant but pressed her hand against her head, like that would ward off her head ache. "Get some sleep." Chase said stretching and leaving the room. Abbi realized she was in Chase's bed but she fell asleep, not caring.

Abbi was nursed back to health by Chase, nobody came to visit, for which she was thankful. Apparently, nobody really knew she was on the island yet. When she felt better, she went to her new home in the city. There were many boxes stacked inside.

Abbi looked around the town house. There was a large kitchen, 3 rooms upstairs, an office/library area with built in bookshelves, a medium sized living room, and a medium sized dining room. It had 2 ½ baths and a basement that was unfinished.

She smiled, this place was bigger than her apartment in the city. Apparently somebody from the government had come for her truck and left her payment on her counter. She started to unpack when her doorbell rung and she heard somebody step inside. She almost grabbed something to use as a weapon when she remembered how the people in Harmonica town just walked into everybody else's house. She stepped out of the kitchen where she had a clear view of the door. In front of her was her friend Gale, the Wizard. "Gale!" Abbi whispered but hugged him. "How have you been?" She asked him. "Fine, I just came to see you and make sure you were settling in alright." He said with a smile down on her. She beamed up at him. "I am just fine thank you." She replied. "Hey Abbi, I was wondering if you needed any help unpacking…" She heard as Chase walked into her house. He saw the Wizard and nodded his head at him. "I have things I need to do but you must come by and we can chat." The Wizard took his leave then.

"I would really appreciate some help with this actually." Abbi smiled at Chase. "Yeah, just tell me where you want stuff." He said softly looking back toward the door with a glare. He shut it and turned to open a box. "This has…. Plates and some cloth.. napkins?" He asked pulling out embroidered white napkins. "Yeah, put the plates on the left bottom shelf, left cabinet above the fridge. On…' she paused searching for something, 'this!" She said pulling out a plate rack to keep her plates standing. "Okay…" He mumbled carefully placing the glass plates in the cupboard. She put some high end pots and pans away, hanging her pans over her island high enough they don't get in the way, low enough she can reach them easily. "Those are nice, do you do a lot of cooking?" Chase asked her.

"Oh yeah! It was just me in a little apartment in the city and one day I was tired of making microwave meals, so I went to the store bought some pots and pans and haven't had a frozen meal in years! I eventually got to the point that I was able to throw out the old pans and get these!" She told him while holding a nice cast iron frying pan. "These are some of my most prized possessions!" She said hanging the pan. "Then you can make dinner tonight!" Chase teased. "I remember when you would come over to our house and we would bake or cook with mom. I swear we made the best dinners known to man!" Abbi reminisced.

He laughed. "You always insisted on wearing that apron you and I made in kindergarten, when it got too small for you we had to hold a funeral for it!" He bent over laughing remembering her sad words and tears over the ugly orange apron, she had asked if he wanted to say anything and he had to hold back his laughter and shake his head. "I loved that apron! It held a lot of good memories! I still have the other one actually!" She said rummaging through another bag to find a kid sized apron with cupcakes all over it and frills along the side. "Mom made this one so I had to keep it." She said sadly.

"She would have asked you why you still have it; it's just taking up space!" They laughed the last part together. The fact that something took up space and wasn't being used always irked her mom so they would clean the house out of anything they hadn't used every month.

"Those were the days." Abbi sighed. "Your mom would have been proud of you! Your dad was extremely proud he had such a well educated daughter." Chase told her putting a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, mom would have been proud of her little chef too." She said referring to his nickname. Her family had practically adopted him. He still lived in his house with his sick grandmother and her nurse, but he was always at her house. "Yeah, I like to think so." He gave her a soft smile. They continued unpacking, Chase helped set up her bed and move her furniture around. They spoke of what they had been doing for the past few years, what they wanted to do, and of their days as children.

"Finally, we are all done!" Abbi breathed as they finished moving her heavy dining room table. "You have a lot of nice furniture." He said appreciatively. "Thank you! I started with folding chairs and a folding table!" She smirked up at him from her leather couch. "Mmm." He murmured appreciating the contrast of her pale skin and the dark brown couch. She laid there like it was nothing, one leg on and one leg off the couch and her eyes closed. Her lips were partially open, with one hand on her stomach, another behind her head. "You need some pillows…" he observed looking away. "Yes I will also need a coffee table, paint on the walls…' she paused looking him up and down, 'and a boyfriend to enjoy all this nice couch with." She smirked when he blushed down at her rubbing the rest of the couch. "I saw you checking me out Chase." She kissed his both his warm cheeks and giggled. "Would you go to Andy's General store and pick these up for me while I put my clothes away?" She asked innocently handing him a list and a check that was signed but not filled out from the counter. "Yeah, no problem." Chase said grabbing it and waving goodbye as he exited.

Abbi took a deep breath leaning against her granite counter. "Wow, he got handsome…" She whispered to herself.


End file.
